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Sunday, November 24, 2013

Franklinia alatamaha is an extinct tree species that was
once native to Georgia. It was named after Benjamin Franklin by William
Bartram, son of colonial era naturalist nurseryman John Bartram, of
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Bartrams were the first commercial plant
nursery in the colonies and are responsible for sending thousands of native plant
species from the colonies to Great Britain.

Their home was once part of a 1,000 acre tract of land along
the Schuylkill River south of center city Philadelphia. The site was originally
settled in 1648 however excavated archeological finds indicate that this land
was also home to native Indians 3000 years ago. Born to a Quaker family, John
Bartram spent his life learning about science and botany with boundless
curiosity. Bartram’s Garden is open to visitors throughout the year.

'Twilight in the Garden' is the annual fall fundraising benefit for Bartram’s Garden.This year, a friend on the
event committee asked if I could create a pendant from a Franklinia seed pod
that she had collected a few years back from the grounds at Bartram’s Garden. The
seed pod is from a living, flowering franklinia alatamaha that been thriving at
the garden.

Sometimes, jewelry projects find their way to me and this was a project I was eager to help with. Even though her one and only rare seed pod, would have to be destroyed in the process, she
was excited that it would become a pendant to be offered as a Raffle item at the Twilight
fundraiser.

The mature seed pod has a magnificent structure. Once round, it expands as it dries into five sections that split, allowing the seed to release. The tip of the seed has a five pointed shape. Unable to mold the entire pod, I decided to cast it. That
is, burn it out and fill the void with metal. But thinking ahead, that maybe we
would want to make others in the future, I decided to cut the original casting
in half. That way we could mold the halves and put it back together later.
Also, there was a seed in the middle that had come loose from the outer shell.
I gently pulled it through. That piece was also molded.

Three pieces, once
cast, were re-assembled (soldered together). The sterling silver casting was
hand finished to retain all of the interesting textures and the center seed is
still loose and free to move.